The D20 and Dungeons & Dragons

Aug 29, 2016

The D20 is as iconic as the game itself. Dungeons & Dragons or D&D, was hot and subversive role playing game that appeared when I was in elementary school. It had no board, no game pieces, or fake money. The bulk of the game consisted of a set of dice unlike any other, a map or module, and your imagination. Although it was completely innocuous, a small wave of hysteria hit the media and all of a sudden Dungeons & Dragons turned into something occult.

It went far enough for Hollywood to get involved by producing a film called Mazes and Monsters starring Tom Hanks that explored the world of gaming and mental illness. Recently everyone was captivated by the show Stranger Things which captures the spirit of the 80s including D & D. It's simpler than you'd think, yet can be as complicated as you'd want to make it.

I played without any issues and the hysteria soon died out as the mystery of a boardless game turned out to be only in people's minds. Eventually RPGs all went online and turned into a billion dollar industry. D & D didn't make it as an online platform, but the nostalgia of it being analog is still powerful.

The d20 pin depicts a 20 sided die. I researched how the numbers were placed on multiple d20s and this is what I came up with. It's using four different shades of a blood curdling red that's deep and echoes danger. The gold fits right in since the game is all about the gold pieces.